Raw Energy: Eat for everyday energy, fitness or recovery

Whether you are a competitive athlete, moderate exerciser or simply perform everyday tasks like concentrating, it is essential to supply your body with foods that provide energy and quality nutrients.

Eating the proper foods enables the body to look and feel younger, and provides the ability to repair and re-grow the cells that make up your muscle tissues, which means faster recovery from workouts.

It is essential your body is properly fueled. The benefits are experienced in basic everyday tasks, such as concentrating, playing with your kids, having energy after work to be productive and completing intense workouts.

A younger body is essentially a body that has regenerated its cells regularly and enables you to perform, act or bounce back faster than a poorly nourished body of equal biological age.

Calorie intake and calories burned does not guarantee you will be fit or able to achieve your fitness or weight control goals. Foods that are easy to digest deliver optimum energy and/or performance.

Dates provide instant energy, and your body does not have to break it down or convert it to a different form to use the energy.

Coconut oil (or coconut meat in a smoothie), is a good source of fat, but is also a medium-chain triglyceride that goes directly to your liver to deliver energy without having to be processed first. Coconut water is a natural source of electrolytes to help keep you hydrated.

Dulse is also a great source of electrolytes, and is great on salads or raw soups.

Chlorella is alkaline-forming, stimulates cellular regeneration, and detoxifies. Chlorella is also helpful in clearing the lactic acid that builds up in muscles after exertion.

Maca is an energy-booster and also helps to cope with stress, balance hormones and prepare your body for the stresses of intense activity.

Brenda Richter is a graduate of Living Light Culinary Arts Institute, where she received her certification as a Raw Culinary Arts associate chef and instructor. She’s passionate about sharing the living foods lifestyle with others, and teaches raw culinary arts classes in the Rockford area.